


Garden War

by Cibee (Cibeeeee)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: "one tree? fuck you I'll grow TWO trees", Draco and Harry are neighbors, Dramatic Draco Malfoy, Epistolary, Fluff and Humor, Frenemies to friends to lovers, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, and they keep trying to make their garden better than the other's, draco has a cat, harry has chickens, then omg quarantine, they both have no chills, with a lake between them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23539312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cibeeeee/pseuds/Cibee
Summary: Harry and Draco are quarantined in their houses, a lake across from one another. What better ways to spend this time than to annoy each other with letters and attempts to prove that their garden isbetter?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 156
Kudos: 1085
Collections: Lock Down Fest





	Garden War

**Author's Note:**

> thank you [tsauergrass ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsauergrass) for the beta and lovely encouragements!!!!!
> 
> [aceveria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceveria/pseuds/aceveria) has [drawn an amzingly BEAUTIFUL art](https://aceveria-art.tumblr.com/post/614979373602308096/so-yesterday-i-read-garden-war-by-cibeewastaken) for this story! go check it out!!

**Malfoy,**

**Where are you? Are you quarantined at the Manor?** ****

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_No, I’m certainly not spending forty days at the Manor. Of course I’m going to quarantine at home._

_By the way, I see the new apple tree. Trying to match the one I got, are you? If you look out your window now, I think you’ll see I have_ _three_ _apple trees in my garden._

_Have a good plague,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy, you fucking prat,**

**I know you wouldn’t stay there** **_voluntarily_ ** **, but you’ve been visiting your mum and I thought maybe you’ll want to stay with her, arsehole.**

**Three apple trees, huh? At least you’re one-third caught up with the number of trees I already have in my garden!**

**And it’s not a plague, stop being so dramatic.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potty,_

_I think this will be a fun quarantine._

_Excited,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_How is your first day of quarantine? Gone crazy yet? You can always rest your eyes by moving them away from your disaster of a garden and look at my beautiful château garden. It’s certainly much bigger than your cottage yard!_

_So, as a gesture of goodwill, here is a pair of binoculars. For you, so you can see my garden wrecking yours close-up._

_Delighted,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_Why haven’t you replied yet!!_

_Waiting,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you seriously send me a letter at six in the morning? Why are you up?**

**Also, fuck your binoculars. I can see you prancing all over your garden without them just fine. If there wasn’t a unicorn pox outbreak, I would swim over and chuck them at your head.**

**Twat.**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_Did you sign off as “twat”?_

_Wholeheartedly agree,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**I was calling you a twat, you twat!!!! After a year of being neighbors you still haven’t learned to be more decent.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_A year ago when my mother told me someone bought the cottage she said we should go and introduce ourselves, since it was_ _decent_ _. But ever since I knew it was you, I’ve given up on being decent._

_Decent to everyone but a Potter,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Though I should thank you, having your house in the area really lowered the market price. I got a great house with a great garden for half the original price. So thanks.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**WHAT THE FUCK!!!! you did not just send me an envelope filled with poisonous plants????? My hands itched for hours!!!!! fuck you!!!**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_It’s only lords-and-ladies, and here I was hoping you would eat it._

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


* * *

  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_Why haven’t you replied to any of my letters? I saw you weeding in the garden today!! I saw my owl deliver my letter and you did not open it right away. I demand an explanation!!_

_Distressed,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Because I was afraid you would put poisonous plants in it again, that’s why. Why are you growing poisonous plants in your garden anyway?? Teddy plays in your garden, so stop growing dangerous plants.**

**Harry**

  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_It’s a_ _weed_ _, Potter, I did not intend to grow it! And I never let Teddy play in my garden without supervision, which is a given, since mine is so much bigger than yours. And I’ve told you a million times to watch that child when he plays in the garden, one misstep and he could slip into the lake! I told you to get a dock and ward up the rest of the shore so he wouldn’t run headlong into the deep end. Not to mention those devil chickens of yours, I swear they tried to peck my eyes out!_

_Perhaps you can use this time to build a dock. Don’t copy mine!_

_With appreciations,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


**Malfoy,**

**My hens are perfectly lovely ladies, unlike your cat. He actually did claw my eyes. I still have the scar.**

**Teddy’s not even here, and I do watch him while he plays, and I have wards all over the place, quit worrying. Andromeda is still scarred from when you used a Sonorus to yell at me from across the lake that one time.**

**And I don’t want a dock, and I certainly don’t want it to look like yours. Who builds a dock with marbles? With statues?**

**I have been thinking about building a small boat, though.** **What do you think**

**Harry**

  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_Gooseberry is too docile to claw at anyone. He is an angel reincarnated and I love him with all my heart so you better watch your good-for-nothing mouth! And if he did claw you a new scar, perhaps he just wanted you to have a better one._

_I think a boat would be lovely._

_Sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


* * *

**Malfoy,**

**It’s been a week and I already feel like I’m going mad. I’ve planted another bed of hibiscuses and I feel like I’ve got nothing else to do but wait. What are the purple and blue flowers you’ve got? They covered the entire garden and I still can’t make them out, even with the binoculars.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_They’re crocuses and forget-me-nots. I thought they would look nice as a field, but it might be too simple, I’m still thinking about what else to plant._

_I thought you were building a boat?_

_Eagerly waiting for a boat,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**I was, but I might be tempted to row back to society if I actually build one. I’ll take my time with it.**

**I think they look brilliant, at least from this side of the lake. But if you want more colors, why not some lupine?**

**How did you get them to blossom so quickly?**

**Harry**

  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_With magic, Potter!! I use wards to create a greenhouse-like space and speed the process up with spells, then huzza! Flowers bloom overnight! I knew you’d succumb to the knowledge that I am a better gardener than you are and ask me for help!! Haha. I think I should plant some lemon trees to make the garden smell nice, and don’t you try planting any lemons!!! I’ve patented all citrus rights around this lake!!_

_The superior green thumb,_

_Draco Malfoy_

_P.S. I’ve attached some books on gardening with magic, because I’m trying to help the sorry state of your garden, since you said mine was brilliant_

  
  


* * *

**Malfoy,**

**I spent yesterday reading the books you sent, they’re really helpful. One of them is about growing veggies, I only have some herbs in my garden, maybe I’ll start some cucumbers and carrots, and berries. Don’t worry, I’ll leave the lemons and tangerines for you. Maybe when my veggies are ready we can trade? I’ve also got some eggs from the hens this morning. Had to fight the rooster for it. We are certainly well prepared for this quarantine.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_I will never understand why you have a cockerel running free in your garden. I thought you were raising it for meat and yet here he is, still terrorizing the Chosen One._

_However, I admit I have come to rely on him to wake up early, though sometimes I do use Sonorous to tell him to shut up._

_Energized,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Yeah, I am also subjected to your Sonorus yellings too. Sometimes I wish more people lived around here so they could yell back at you.**

**And yes, he was . . . originally the main course for our Christmas dinner, but after looking at him for months I just couldn’t do it. And I forgot to tell anyone or order something, so that year we ended up eating potatoes and Shepherd's pie until we all went to the Burrow and begged for food.**

**You never answer my questions about trading produce.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_Fine, I’ll get started on the trees. Only because I was going to anyway!!_

_I like bell peppers. Red ones._

_Sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Red bell peppers it is.**

**Harry**

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Draco are you okay???? I heard a scream and I can’t see you anywhere. Are you in the garden? In the house?? What happened???**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_False alarm, though I do admit for a while I thought I might die young and tragic in battle. I just encountered the most horrid being in the world. I was close to fainting, but surely if I had fainted it would have killed me in cold blood!_

_Rattled but alive,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**you fucking prat, you scared the hell out of me. what is it??? is it a snake?**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_It most certainly was more ghastly than a snake (never thought I would say that). The assailant was hidden in the owl-deliver groceries this morning. I had ordered some Madjool Dates all the way from Morocco, and there was a stowaway in the midst! It was a (and I had to look it up in the library) solifugae!! (do not look it up if you are afraid of spiders!!) That was when I screamed, though I am unsure of which screamed you heard because I had surely screamed more than once. I am impressed you heard me. Ha-ha, even at this I bested you! I don’t think_ _you_ _can scream so loud I’d hear!_

_Anyway, I threw the monstrosity into the lake, though I have been sitting on the dock watching the water to make sure it does not come back and enact revenge. I will not be in the slightest surprised if it strangled and ate all the fish in the lake and grew to be as big as a dragon—I think I should stop there._

_Hopefully it doesn’t crawl its way to your cottage and kill you in the dead of night. But out of simple curiosity: if you die, do I get Teddy?_

_Thinking about fatherhood,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**I’m not scared of spiders, so I looked it up. It’s not poisonous, certainly less so than the bloody lords-and-ladies you sent me. So if you were wounded in the battle I think you will just have to survive.**

**I’m not interested in a screaming competition, and once you’re done with the smelling salt, you might want to take a look across the lake.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Potter,_

_Did you plant an oak!!! I should have never given you those books! Is this how you repay my kindness!! So here I was, planting hyacinths and lupines to give my garden colors, and you were growing a fucking oak tree in yours. It’s taller than your cottage! As measly as it is! Potter!!_

_Betrayed,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Look over when you get this.**

**Harry**

  
  


_Potter,_

_Giving me the middle finger across a lake is_ _not_ _nice!_

_Unamused,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


* * *

  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_Gooseberry is such a turd. This morning at an unholy hour he jumped on my bed and PUKED on my stomach after gorging himself sick. But why did he choose my bed, or rather, my beautiful body, to throw up on? What is the logic? Did he hold it all in until he got to my room so he could let it all out on me? Now I regret standing for hours in line to stock up on cat food. Ungrateful twat. _

_Covered in barf,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**(ink splotches)**

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**I took so long to write this letter that my owl just took off before I could finish. I was laughing so hard. Your cat is a neat little guy. And I’m glad to hear you remembered to get food for Gooseberry.**

**Harry**

  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_I can assure you he is neither little nor neat. He can go into the garden and eat birds for all I care now. Though he is also too fat to jump more than two centimeters off the ground._

_Of course I stocked up on his food! When I was in line I heard someone remark, “Oh, right, the dogs need to eat too!” And I have never felt so much pleasure at making a grown man cry after I was done with him. If you can't remember your pets you shouldn’t have them._

_Angry but responsible pet owner,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Aren’t you being too hard on him? It sounds like an honest mistake.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_IF YOU CAN’T REMEMBER YOUR PETS YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE THEM_

_Adamant,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


* * *

_Dear Potter,_

_Two weeks now, how are you holding up? I saw you in the garden last night before bed, and when I woke this morning I could still see you from my window._

_Sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Not good, to be honest. I miss seeing my front door. And I miss Teddy. I wished he could have stayed with me during this but Andromeda's house is further away from where the pox broke out. I wish the Floo wasn’t restricted either. Hermione is miserable, since she’s helping the Ministry controlling the virus, and she can’t go home to Rose and Ron. I wanted her to come stay with me, but she said she didn’t want to put me at risk.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to ramble.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_It’s perfectly all right. Actually, I have an idea._

_See the second letter._

_Eagerly awaits your response,_

_Draco Malfoy_

> Draco Malfoy
> 
> requests the pleasure of your company for afternoon tea.
> 
> On the fifteenth day of the quarantine, at four o’clock p.m. in our respective back gardens.
> 
> Dress code: formal, though I’m sure you’ll do as you please
> 
> R.S.V.P. Botlade Château, a lake across from Potter Cottage

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Sure.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_Show some respect!_

_In need of respect,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy,**

**Just wanted to see you yell at me from your house.**

**Thank you, I don’t think I ever thought I would have tea with someone on the other side of a lake. I sent over some things: A loaf of bread (I baked it myself!), a bag of bell peppers and two cucumbers (grown by me!), a jar of apple compote (I made it myself!). If something is missing, your cat probably got to it.**

**Is this a fancy high tea?**

**Harry**

  
  


_Dear Potter_

_No, it is not_ _high tea_ _. High tea is for working-class who would come home after a long day very hungry and eat a lot of things, and then they’ll wash it down with a glass of tea. This just shows you are ignorant of tea etiquette._

_Thank you for your produce. I’m sure your rooster shat on your soil to make the vegetables so so huge. I think Gooseberry got scared by the sheer size._

_You will see I also sent over some dishes: Tomatoes confit in olive oil and basil, clotted cream made by one of Malfoy estate’s tenant farmers, olives from Castelvetrano. And a basket of lemons. Only the lemons are mine, but I am very fond of the other three. I don’t share them lightly._

_Chin up, Potter, three more weeks to go._

_Best,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**Hope you’re not asleep yet. Today was fun. Too bad it started raining. And I know you were laughing at me under your umbrella charm when you saw me running into the house. I came back out though, didn’t I?**

**I made lemonade with the lemons, they tasted—well, they tasted like lemons, but it was nice of you. I sent over a jug and I put some lavenders in it because I remember you saying you liked it?**

**Anyway, today was fun. Did I say that already? I think we should do it more often. And you should wear fancy shirts every time.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Potter,_

_I was just reading. I thought it would be fitting to read_ The Decameron _. Have you read it?_

_Thank you for the lemonade. I’ll have it with breakfast tomorrow. Have a good night._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Draco, good morning**

**I’ve never heard of that book, and it’s not in my library. What’s it about?**

**Did you like the lemonade?**

**Harry**

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**Are you okay? You haven’t replied and you usually have a letter ready in under three minutes haha I tried making some ginger cake for afternoon snacks since it’s gotten colder. I can send over some if you like.** ~~**Er, um** ~~ **Do you like ginger cake?**

**Harry**

* * *

**Draco, it’s been a day.**

**Harry**

* * *

**What the hell, Malfoy?**

* * *

_Harry,_

_I apologize, but I just woke up. I didn’t know I slept that long._

_I seem to have caught a chill. I took some potions and it’s the drowsy kind. I_

  
  
  


**Draco?? Are you okay? Are you sure it’s just a cold? God, we’re in the middle of an epidemic you don’t just write it off as a cold! Answer me.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Harry,_

_yes, sorry, I thought I had finished writing that letter._

_I’m sure it’s just that. I couldn’t sleep that day so I took a walk in the garden, while having a glass of the lemonade you made for me. Dews and cold drinks certainly are more troublesome than I’d imagined. I don’t have a fever and it’s only the potions that are making me sleepy._

_Draco_

  
  


**Draco,**

**If you say so. But please just send me a note every day so I know you haven’t gotten the pox and died in your stupid castle. I made some chicken soup.**

**Harry**

  
  


_Harry,_

_Oh, god, is it made from your rooster?_

_Draco_

  
  
  


**No!!!!!!**

**Harry**

  
  


* * *

  
  


_Harry!_

_Are you awake, you oaf? You will not believe the injustice I’ve faced to-day. Do you know how many ants bit me while I was tending my garden? Three! Three ants! Why are there so many ants?_

_Bugged,_

_Draco Malfoy_

_(P.S ha-ha, did you get it?)_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**I can see your cold has passed. Maybe stop wandering in the garden at night like a lovesick maiden? Or else one of these days you might actually die from night dews, wrist fevers, letter-reading fits or whatever killed the women in those old novels.**

**But it’s comforting how well you recovered, since your brattiness level has returned tenfold. Complaining about ants? I get stung by bees almost every day.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Harry,_

_Well! I’m happy to report I have also just gotten stung by a bee, too! What have you?_

_Swelling (ha-ha!) with victory,_

_Draco_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**I don’t care you got stung by a bee too, unless you’re allergic to them, in that case please go to the healers.**

**Though a bird just attacked me. I should stop eating my breakfast in the garden.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_I just got attacked by_ _two_ _birds!_

_Pecked, (kiss mark)_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Malfoy you fucking lunatic, I just SAW you throw yourself at the birds, they couldn’t get away fast enough and you face-planted in a bush! This is not a competition you freak, stop scaring the poor animals!**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dearest Harry,_

_Ah but my injuries are still the result of the birds and my injuries are much graver than yours!_

_Are you spying on me? I certainly won’t say no to the attention._

_Preening for you,_

_Draco Malfoy_

_(P.S. Last bird joke!)_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**oh my god piss off YOU gave me the binoculars. And there were jokes? I couldn’t tell.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dearest Harry,_

_And yet there you are, using it still._

_Best,_

_Draco Malfoy_

_P.S. NOT a competition? That is not the Potter I love to loathe!_

_P.P.S I_ _am_ _ funny!!!! _

  
  
  


**DRACO,**

**OH MY GOD STOP HURTING YOURSELF, YOU WIN. GET DOWN FROM THE BELFRY.**

**HARRY**

  
  
  


_Dearest Harry_

_Are you conceding? I must frame that letter and hang it right by the door so everyone can see it once when they come and again when they leave!_

_Delighted,_

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**The only reason I’m (letting) you win is because you are FERAL and will try to hurt yourself to prove, to prove—I honestly have no idea what you’re trying to prove I’m just trying to stop you from killing yourself STOP IT.**

**Harry (Distressed)**

  
  


_Dear Harry,_

_Is there a chance at those ginger cakes you baked? I’m hungry from all the winning I’ve done._

_Peckish,_

_Draco Malfoy_

_(This really is the last bird joke!)_

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Draco,**

**Here are some strawberries I’ve grown. They look a bit bumpy and scarred, but they taste brilliant.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Harry,_

_They smell like the sun. Did you just pick them?_

_Yours, sincerely_

_Draco_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**Yeah.**

~~**I hope you** ~~

~~**I gave you the best ones** ~~

**Did you like them?**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Dear Harry,_

_Very much. Thank you. I’ve sent over a bouquet,_ _~~they reminded me of. they’re beautiful.~~ _ _It’s Hydrangea, Ranunculus, and Peony. They’ve outgrown their plot._

_Drowned in flowers,_

_Draco_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**That’s,**

**good. I’m glad you liked them.**

**The flowers are beautiful. I put it on my bedside table since I thought waking up to them would be lovely, don’t you agree?**

**Harry**

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Draco,**

**I wanted to thank you for the jar of lotion, it does smell nice. I think you should just stick to potions and leave the cooking to me. I can still remember the burnt aftertaste from your attempted apple crumble.**

**One more week left of this quarantine! We can finally leave! Are you excited?**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Harry,_

_I make perfect apple crumble, the sun just scorched it on its way across the lake._

_Draco Malfoy_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**Don’t be mad, you still make better tea. By the way, I still have your thermos. Should I send it back?**

**Andromeda said I can visit them the day after the quarantine ends. Then I’m having dinner with Ron and Hermione. I think we’re going to the zoo the next day too.**

**Harry**

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**Is everything okay?**

**Harry**

  
  
  


**Draco?**

  
  


* * *

_Harry,_

_I’m sorry for the sudden disappearance (again). I was preoccupied._

_I suppose this quarantine had to end sometime._

_Draco_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**I thought you were stir-crazy? I keep seeing candlelight going all over the house in the middle of the night. At least you’d taken my concern into account and decided to do your wandering inside your house.**

**You didn’t answer me, are you okay?**

**Harry**

  
  
  


_Harry,_

_I’m perfectly fine. Though I may not be able to reply so frequently this week._

_Draco_

  
  
  


**Draco,**

**You’d tell me if something is bothering you, right?**

~~**Yours,** ~~

**Harry**

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Draco,**

**I planted a magnolia tree. Though I think this is the last time I’ll use magic to speed them up. I’d like to see them bud, instead of missing it during the night. Can you see the tree? I planted it where you’ll see it when you look out of your bedroom. It’s the pink tree, in case you didn’t know what magnolia looked like. I didn’t, before I planted it of course. And did you know it’s the namesake of that animation film Teddy and Rose like so much? Where the daughter went to war for her father? It made me think of you.**

**Four days left.**

**Harry**

  
  


* * *

**Draco,**

**I found one of my old books today, from before Hogwarts. It was thrown away by my aunt and uncle and I picked it up from the rubbish. I thought it was a children’s book, and that’s why they threw it away because my cousin never bothered to read it. The book is called** **_Animal Farm_ ** **, it’s Muggle. I don’t know if Hermione recommended it to you. When I read it as a kid I was so drawn by the idea of the animals taking control over their life. At the time I didn’t know it wasn’t actually a children’s book, and—well, it didn’t end very well and I buried the book away.**

**I read it again today. It still made me sad. And I just . . . wanted to write to you. Well, I wanted to talk to you. I went to the garden but I didn’t see you.**

**Harry**

  
  


* * *

**Draco,**

**I don’t think I’ve told you, but I started building the boat with branches from the oak tree. It’s ridiculously difficult and I don’t even want to think how hard it would be without magic. I think it might sink; it’s very . . . lopsided. Will you rescue me if I capsized in the lake?**

**Harry**

  
  


* * *

  
  


**Draco, please**

  
  


* * *

  
  


_Dearest, Harry,_

_Today is the last day of our little quarantine, a result of the unfortunate unicorn pox outbreak. If only people would stop drinking their blood._

_I received your letters, though I haven’t opened them yet. They’re with the rest of the letters you’ve sent me._

_I thought perhaps, some solitude—_ _ true _ _solitude would give me some perspective, as I begin a triage process of everything that happened in these forty days. I hope you didn’t think I was shirty with you, that’s never my intention (anymore)._

_Harry, you’ve always been the main subject of most of my thoughts, even with you being in absentia for the most part. And despite the jitters of being confined, I never felt your degree of unrest from this solitary. If anything, these past weeks have been a—dream. I have not written back because I didn’t want to face the end of this. It was a cowardly effort on my part to make the seconds stop._

_Then I thought I could condition myself to not miss you by missing you early._

_I saw the tree, Harry, I saw you plant it, and I watched it grow._

_Avec l’amour,_

_Draco_

  
  


* * *

  
  


Harry got off the boat with a wobble. Definitely not a safe boat. His trousers were wet from the water leaking in through the gaps and he had to use magic to help it stay intact, but he did it. 

“Draco!” Harry hissed, then groaned to himself (a habit he got from a forty-day quarantine). He jogged up the dock and into the garden. The château loomed above him and there were no lights in any window. Harry passed the lemon trees and paused to take it in. 

Harry walked carefully through the field of lupines and forget-me-nots, mindful of where his boots landed. He really had forgotten how big Draco’s garden was when you were inside.

“Draco!” Harry started to shout, because why wait to knock on Draco’s backdoor. “Draco!”

When nothing happened, Harry pointed his wand at his throat and yelled, “DRACO!”

A loud thump and a cat’s yowl was heard from the general direction of Draco’s bedroom, and soon enough, a blond head poked out. Draco gaped at the sight of him.

Harry canceled the spell but continued to shout. “Get down here, you fucking arsehole!”

“What are you doing here?!” Draco hissed.

“It’s past midnight,” Harry informed him. “The quarantine is over, come down!”

Draco looked torn at that. He kept looking at Harry then away. “How did you get here? I haven’t taken the wards down.”

“Boat,” Harry said.

“Oh, dear god,” Draco said, and he disappeared back into the window.

Draco opened the backdoor and Gooseberry sprinted out, not without leaving teeth marks on Harry’s thigh, right where the boots’ protection ended. Harry swore and jumped away and into Draco, who caught him, thus allowing Harry to finally notice Draco was clad only in a gauzy nightgown.

“Aren’t you cold?” Harry gripped Draco’s arms.

Draco’s eyes paused at Harry’s sweater and suspenders. “Why do you insist on buying trousers that are too big?”

“I don’t know,” Harry replied. The garden was very quiet except for the gentle lapping of water. Harry watched as Draco’s chest rose and fell in sync with the sound.

They stood there, in a stalemate. The sound of the lake gently cajoled them with soft tugs and those distant, pulling sounds from beyond where their eyes could see. But they planted themselves right next to each other.

“You just disappeared,” Harry said, in the end.

Draco turned his eyes away. His slippers grazed the windfalls on the soil.

“I’ve stopped cleaning these up. Leave them for the birds now, too,” Draco said, “like you do in your garden.”

“Don’t try to talk about something else.”

Draco shook his head. “Why are you here, Harry?”

“You should have read my letters,” Harry said. “I _am_ going to see Teddy tomorrow— later today, I mean, but I had to—I had to see you.”

Draco swallowed. The sound loud. “The first hour after quarantine and you choose to venture a garden and a lake away from your house?”

“If it’s where you are,” Harry said.

“You’re not sick of me yet?” Draco asked in a small voice. 

“ _Draco_.” Harry gently tightened his fingers around Draco’s arms. “I _missed_ you.”

Draco stared back. His cheeks rapidly darkening. 

“I almost drowned, coming here,” Harry said. 

“You wouldn’t have,” Draco said. “I would have saved you.”

Harry grinned. Draco looked away, his face now completely red. He crouched down, one hand still holding onto Harry’s, and plucked a forget-me-not. Draco tucked it behind Harry’s ear. Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Draco, not when he finally got Draco in front of him.

“I don’t want to kiss you goodnight,” Harry whispered.

Draco looked at Harry, then to the garden and beyond where the lake, Harry’s garden, and his house were. His eyes were wide when he looked back to Harry. “Then,” he said, a little too loudly, and dipped his voice as the flush on his skin darkened. “How about you kiss me good morning?”


End file.
